“The Emperose Residence” in Koukaki: The art of living like a local in an Athenian neighbourhood that has preserved its history and character

How a historic house in Koukaki is redefining the meaning of contemporary hospitality

In recent years, Athens has been transforming through buildings that are given a second life. More and more historic properties are being restored and adapted to new uses, becoming vibrant spaces for living, culture, and hospitality. Adaptive reuse is not only about preserving architectural heritage; it is also about safeguarding the city’s collective memory, allowing Athens to evolve without erasing its past. Former residences, industrial buildings and neoclassical houses are being reimagined as places of hospitality, embracing a different understanding of what it means to truly inhabit a city.

One June morning, among the apartment blocks of Koukaki, the old Athenian house on the corner immediately stands out. It feels as though it has always belonged there-an enduring part of the neighbourhood that simply continues to live on. Housed within this historic building in Gargareta, one of Koukaki’s oldest quarters, The Emperose Residence belongs to a new generation of hospitality spaces that approach a stay as an experience of inhabiting a place. Its restoration has preserved the building’s identity while quietly redefining what hospitality in the heart of Athens can mean today.

Its philosophy is summed up in a phrase that the team often repeats. “We don’t treat visitors as tourists. We welcome them as guests in our home,” Hospitality Manager Efi Papachristopoulou tells me. It is a subtle difference in wording, yet one that changes everything in practice. From the scale of the building itself to the way everyday life is thoughtfully organised, every decision serves the same purpose: to make guests feel that they are not simply visiting Athens, but living it.

This is hospitality that moves beyond the conventional hotel experience. It strikes a delicate balance between the freedom of a private home and the discreet care of a high-end boutique hotel. The team remains almost invisible, yet always present when needed. The breakfast waiting each morning, personalised recommendations for exploring the city, or the effortless organisation of anything a guest may need are all quiet gestures of hospitality that create the reassuring feeling that someone has prepared this home especially for you-and continues to look after you.

A house that continues to tell stories

The building itself tells a story that spans more than a century. Built in the late 19th century and now protected as a listed historic building, it bears the traces of over a hundred years of Athenian life. Together, engineer George Tziviloglou, who was responsible for the architectural study, site supervision and project management, and Fotini Kousiaki, the project’s conservation scientist, chose a far more demanding path: to preserve the traces of time and weave them into the building’s new life.

Decorative plasterwork was carefully dismantled, conserved and reinstalled piece by piece. Original floor tiles and marble elements were meticulously cleaned and restored, while faux-marble wall paintings were brought back to life through the very marks left behind by time.

Walking up the wooden staircase, it becomes difficult to tell where restoration ends and contemporary intervention begins. Running your hand along the original banister, it is impossible not to wonder how many people have done exactly the same before you. Here, memory and the present quietly meet.

The original entrance tiles were preserved as what conservation practice refers to as “witnesses”– authentic fragments intentionally left visible to testify to a building’s journey through time.

At The Emperose Residence, however, these “witnesses” became more than historical evidence. They inspired a new series of artworks found throughout the six residences. Traces of the original wall paintings were translated into contemporary artistic compositions, creating a subtle dialogue between the building’s past and present-day creativity.

Yet the story of the house was not revealed solely through its walls. During the restoration, letters belonging to a former resident-a naval officer who, according to the owners’ research, followed the Greek government into exile in Egypt during the Occupation while his mother remained in the house-were discovered within the building. Alongside the letters, his portrait was also recovered and is now being conserved before returning to its original home, continuing, in its own quiet way, the story of this remarkable residence.

Perhaps this is one of The Emperose Residence’s most compelling qualities. The restoration went far beyond the preservation of a historic building. It became the starting point for new creative collaborations with craftspeople, conservators and contemporary designers, ultimately offering a different way of experiencing the city itself.

When history becomes part of the design

The transition from restoration to contemporary living is completed through the interior design, conceived by Vangelis Bonios and his Athens-based design studio, Studio Bonarchi. For Studio Bonarchi, the building’s history was never treated as a constraint but as a creative point of departure. Contemporary furnishings do not compete with the property’s original architectural features; instead, they reveal and enhance them, allowing past and present to coexist without nostalgia or affectation. Rather than imposing itself upon the building’s history, the design enters into a quiet dialogue with it.

Handcrafted furniture, bespoke joinery, bronze lighting fixtures, antiqued mirrors, marble surfaces, velvet textures and carefully selected artworks come together to create an interior that consciously avoids spectacle. The aesthetic of The Emperose Residence is rooted in the harmony of the whole. Every material, every texture and every detail feels exactly where it belongs. Nothing is superfluous, and nothing seeks to become the focal point. Here, luxury emerges through the quality of every choice.

The artworks displayed throughout the common areas and private residences come from the personal collection of The Emperose Residence’s creators. Rather than serving as decorative additions, they form an integral part of the property’s identity, extending the dialogue between architecture, contemporary artistic expression and the building’s memory.

Natural light completes the composition. As it moves through the high ceilings, it reveals the delicate plaster ornamentation and transforms the interiors throughout the day. Perhaps that is why it is so difficult to leave in a hurry-a place that quietly invites you to slow down and surrender to its own unhurried rhythm.

One house, six distinct personalities

The Emperose Residence comprises just six residences. This was not simply a decision dictated by the scale of the listed building, but one that reflects a philosophy placing space, privacy and the feeling of truly inhabiting a home above all else.

Each of the six residences has its own distinct personality. Jasmine opens onto a secluded inner courtyard, where morning coffee becomes a quiet daily ritual. The silence is unexpected for the heart of Athens; only the faint sounds of the neighbourhood drift in, just enough to remind you that you are in the very centre of the city.

The Violet Penthouse extends onto a private terrace overlooking the rooftops of Koukaki and Philopappos Hill. The remaining residences make the most of soaring ceilings, elegant neoclassical proportions and discreet workspaces, allowing every guest to settle into their own rhythm.

What they all share is the feeling that each residence was designed to be lived in-not simply stayed in.

The city as an extension of home

The same could be said of the neighbourhood itself.

Gargareta, a name heard less and less today, still describes one of Koukaki’s most authentic corners. Nestled between Philopappos Hill and the Acropolis, it has retained the atmosphere of a true Athenian neighbourhood, where leafy courtyards, corner cafés and neighbours exchanging a simple “good morning” continue to coexist with the city’s vibrant contemporary cultural life.

Within just a few minutes’ walk lie the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), Dionysiou Areopagitou, the Acropolis Museum, along with small galleries, independent bookshops and artists’ studios. This is an Athens that extends far beyond its famous landmarks, revealing itself instead through the rhythm of everyday life.

That is what sets The Emperose Residence apart. Beyond offering an exceptional place to stay in the centre of Athens, it proposes a different way of discovering the city: not as a visitor passing through, but as a temporary resident of a neighbourhood that has preserved its memory, its character and its life. And perhaps that is the most meaningful form of luxury today-to feel, if only for a few days, that Athens is home.